Certain known snow groomers normally also comprise a tiller for grooming the snow surface of ski slopes; and a shovel for moving masses of snow along ski slopes. When operating the snow groomer on particularly steep ski slopes, the free end of the winch assembly cable is fixed to an uphill anchorage to maneuver the snow groomer with the aid of the winch assembly, to ensure greater safety and prevent the snow groomer from slipping in the event of loss of traction.
Certain known snow groomers, however, fail to provide for adequate cable control. For example, Canadian Patent No. 2,441,650, describes a snow groomer comprising a winch assembly, which in turn comprises a cable guide device comprising movable arms operated by the cable. The movable arms operate an actuator to move the cable guide device in front of the drum, to wind/unwind the cable correctly with respect to the drum.
However, the snow groomer in Canadian Patent No. 2,441,650 fails to eliminate certain drawbacks caused by occasional deviations of the cable, and may result in malfunctioning of the winch assembly and the snow groomer as a whole. Moreover, the arms may jam and produce undue movement of the cable guide device.
The snow groomer in Canadian Patent No. 2,441,650 also fails to perform functions other than positioning the cable with respect to the drum, with all the drawbacks referred to above.